NO-FRILLS supermarket giant Aldi is opening seven new stores as part of an investment worth more than £24m.

There are already 14 Aldi branches in Wales. The new stores will open in Rhymney, Cardigan, Aberdare, Tonypandy, Llandrindod Wells, Risca and Bridgend.

The total number of new jobs has not yet been confirmed, but Aldi's stores employ on average of 10 members of staff.

A spokeswoman said the company had a policy of buying local products.

She said, "For instance, in our stores across South Wales we stock bakery goods from Braces Bakery and D Gibbons & Sons - both based in Newport - and a premium range of whisky and spirits from the Welsh Whisky Company in Aberdare, as well as fresh milk from the Dairy Farmers of Britain in Llandyrnog Creamery, Denbigh."

Around half of the bread will come from Welsh suppliers, and fresh produce when possible will be sourced from Pembrokeshire.

However, news of Aldi's arrival in Wales was greeted with a cool reception by NFU Cymru.

A spokeswoman for the farmers' union said, "NFU Cymru is trying to encourage all retailers to source locally produced food, which brings clear benefits to both the retailer and the producer, provided that producers are given a reasonable return for their stock.

"Discount retailers such as Aldi account for only a small percentage of the grocery market, however there is some concern within NFU Cymru that supermarkets are using discounters as a benchmark for prices, bringing down prices throughout the whole grocery sector. Hopefully the Office of Fair Trading will refer the grocery sector to the competition commission, in which case NFU Cymru would also want them to look at discounters as well as supermarkets."

Aldi Regional Managing Director Peter Casey said, "We're really looking forward to bringing so many new stores to South Wales. We might be cheaper, but we don't compromise on quality."

Aldi's spokeswoman added, "Our buying power means we offer customers an honest, straightforward deal. We buy at better rates and reduce our costs by cutting out gimmicks. The resultant savings are substantial and are passed on to customers as discounted prices."

Aldi has grown beyond its German roots to become one of the world's biggest grocery chains, with approximately 5,000 stores.

Famed for their discounts, stores are run on a principle of vigilant frugality.

Stores are generally bought on cheap land, use low-cost warehouses and regularly display goods on pallets instead of shelves.

Aldi is also well-known for employing small numbers of staff. Its training programme claims to create the "Fastest Friendliest People in Retail".

The company charges for carrier bags on the rationale that, "There's no such thing as a free carrier bag. Many retailers add this cost into the prices of their products and so you pay for them indirectly.

"At Aldi the decision to pay for carrier bags is yours."

More controversially, the stores have a policy of not being listed in phone books.

Its website states, "The store manager or area manager handles all customer enquires, so the easiest way to contact them is by returning to the store."

Aldi has also succeeded in generating word-of-mouth publicity through its "weekly specials". Limited numbers of luxury consumer items not normally associated with supermarkets - such as rowing machines or plasma screen televisions - go on sale each Thursday at heavily discounted prices and are quickly snapped up.